HT102 Posted September 28, 2006 Posted September 28, 2006 Hi all, I am considering investing in a AVR that features Dolby Headphone. For those who has tried, is the simulation of surround sound convincing? TIA!
Doggie Howser Posted September 28, 2006 Posted September 28, 2006 HRTF - head related transfer functions can be unique for each listener. Some work better than others. So far, I have tried a few implementations. One was Sony's implementation on an old QS-series AV amplifier STR-DB925 (if I recall correctly) which came out around same era as the Denon 3300. That worked really well for me with a good set of Seinheiser HD580 headphones. The other implementation I have tried is in Creative's very affordable Dolby Headphone implementation http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=437&subcategory=438&product=11430 (despite what it looks like in the pic, the headphones are wired.. the good news is that it has a. it uses regular headphone jacks (3.5mm) so it can use basically any aftermarket headphones u like (including wireless headphone kits) and b. it has two headphone jacks so you can share I use it primarily in my den when I want to play my XBox/XB360 at night without waking up the neighbours. Most good PC soundcards (esp for gaming) also incorporate such HRTF processing for games. IMHO, this is usually a good test to see if it works for you (I expect most of us would have some A3D or DS3D capable soundcard that allows headphone mode). Usually if there are individual sounds circling you, I can usually make out the location/direction (eg in 3D sound demos bundled with soundcards or in most games with music disabled), but in a more complex soundstage (aka most movies), it is a lot harder to make out the direction. For movies, though, it does add a much wider/expansive soundstage, even if it is hard to make out individual sounds in complex scenes. In some movies, however, certain sound effects such as missile launches from back to front (or vice versa) tend to come across pretty clear.
hifi_enthusiast Posted September 29, 2006 Posted September 29, 2006 I use a PC soundcard for headphones, the configurability of the HRTF effects is very useful. Especially since different headphones may have different characteristics that require 'tuning' to get the best front/surround balance. Plugging my headphones into the headphone socket of my tube pre-amp which has a headphone HRTF-type circuit, the soundcard's immersive/surround effect is much better. For movies there is no contest.
HT102 Posted October 1, 2006 Author Posted October 1, 2006 Thanks all for the advice. DH, would love to try the Creative headphone but I've already invested in a Sennheiser HD595. :( As hifi_enthusiast suggested, PC sound card is one good avenue.. I am actually waiting for Windows Vista to launched and the availability of Vista-certified HT hardware components such as HD-DVD/Blu-ray drive, HDMI video card (with VC-1 and H.264 decoding), sound card (with lossless audio format decoding), etc, before building my HTPC. ;D Siriusly, the YSV-1 seemed cool but still at prototype stage..may be a while before it is commercially available.
SiriuslyCold Posted October 1, 2006 Posted October 1, 2006 might tail in with Vista (especially with more MS delays *LOL*) another thing about Vista is room EQ which brings TacT/Meridian/DEQX level of EQ to HTPCs (which of course is irrelevant for headphones)
Doggie Howser Posted October 1, 2006 Posted October 1, 2006 DH, would love to try the Creative headphone but I've already invested in a Sennheiser HD595. :( FWIW, the Creative decoder box isn't that expensive. I picked it up at a PC show abt just after the XBox360 launch for less than 200 bucks I think. It'd still work great with yr HD595 ;) which would work better than the bundled headphones anyway.
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